Saturday, October 31, 2009

I'm getting the mid-to-late season, UGA isn't as good as I thought they'd be, Halloween blues. The only cure is to try and make some bank (legally, of course) on a few college football games. Here are 5 to keep you in the mood, 4 favorites and a big underdog:

New Mexico State (+43.5) at Ohio StateI had to check a few places to make sure this was correct. The Buckeyes shouldn't be getting 7 touchdowns against most Ohio high school teams. New Mexico State has won 3 games this year, and while they won't come anywhere close in this one, anything over 40 is way too much.

Georgia Tech (-12) at VanderbiltI believe Tech has covered as a favorite in 5 straight games. They'll comfortably cover this one, although I'd give my left pinky to see them lose in Nashville.

Houston (-6.5) vs Southern MissSouthern Miss is 5-0 at home but 0-3 on the road. 2 of those road losses were to UAB and Louisville. Houston is the best team they'll play all year. No reason to think Houston won't cover a touchdown at home this week.

Idaho (-3.5) vs Louisiana TechIn the WAC this year, Louisiana Tech has probably been the biggest disappointment, while Idaho has probably been the biggest surprise. Probably because Louisiana Tech is playing in the Western Athletic Conference even though they are barely West of the Mississippi River. This was evidenced in a loss at Utah State last week. The long trip gets them again this week.

Oregon State (-10) vs UCLAOregon State almost pulled it out at USC last weekend, so they'll be out to flex their muscles at home against a UCLA team that is struggling mightily right now, having dropped 4 straight.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

He just arrived in Jacksonville for the Georgia/Florida game after making the whole trip in a wheelchair! This is an amazing and inspiring story. Visit Help Brad Walk Again for his testimony. 360 miles by wheelchair by a Damn Good Dawg.

LeakBrewerGator, the publisher of the Florida Gator blog College Football 365, has joined us again this year for a Q&A before the greatest event in all of college football...The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Catfish & Cornbread: Since Florida is undefeated and ranked No.1 in the country, is this team as good as the '08 or '06 National Title teams?

College Football 365: Right now, this team is nowhere near as good as those two teams. I think they definitely have the potential to be as good as the '06 team, but there are too many missing pieces for them to match last year's ball club.

Comparing this team to the '06 team, I would have to say that the offense is better. The rushing attack is infinitely better than Deshawn Wynn and Kestahn Moore of '06. I would even put the passing game on par with that season.I think Riley Cooper is a better overall receiver than Dallas Baker and Deonte Thompson has the capability of spreading the field even more than Bubba Caldwell did for that team. Defensively, the 2006 team was the best Florida ever had. The front 4 would be the starters on this year's team and only Brandon Spikes would crack the lineup at linebacker. Not to mention the secondary that year played out of their minds.

Compared to last year's team, the offense is no where near the same level as they were a year ago. Losing Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy to the draft, along with Carl Moore to injury really decimated our receiver corps. Our third receiver often times is 5 foot nothing Brandon James! Losing Percy was a big hit to our offense in general. The injury to true Freshman Andre DeBose before the season started really hurt our ability to fill the void Percy left. On the defensive side of the ball, we are just about as good this year as we were last year. The main thing that is literally hurting us is injuries. Defensive tackles Lawrence Marsh, Justin Trattou and Jaye Howard have all missed some time. All-Everything Brandon Spikes has been hurt, and Ahmad Black has been dinged up all season long.

C&C: I know that part of the reason Tim Tebow came back for his senior season was to try and go undefeated for the first time in Gator program history. In my opinion, Florida can lose a game as long as they win the rest and beat Alabama in the title game and they will still be a lock for the BCS Championship Game. How important is that elusive unblemished season and is the pressure getting to the players or coaches?

CFB 365: To the Florida players, going undefeated is extremely important. I honestly have no idea why its taking such a precedent over everything else this season. Having enjoyed three national titles with a one loss team, I don't see the big deal with going undefeated. As far as the pressure of going undefeated, I don't think that's weighing to heavily on any of the players or coaches minds. At least I hope not...

C&C: What's going on in Gainesville with the Gator offense? Is it the the loss of Coach Mullen to Mississippi State, the loss of Harvin and Murphy or just defenses catching up with the Meyer spread?

CFB 365: I think it's a combination of the first two mixed in with a new philosophy in Gainesville. Dan Mullen was a huge loss for this Gator team. Steve Addazio is proving that he may just be a little too conservative to overcome Mullen's departure. We can only run so many dive plays and screens. With all this talk of red zone difficulties, people tend to forget that we didn't even need the red zone at times last season. So may of our scores came from 35+ yards out. That's just not happening this season.

Losing Harvin and Murphy has hurt the Gators a great deal too. Our receiving corps is completely deplete. Add to that the injuries of Carl Moore and Andre DeBose and we have one of the thinnest receiver corps in the conference.

The philosophy change I mentioned seems to be a move from the balanced spread offense that Gator fans are used to seeing to a more run-oriented offense. It seems that Florida is basically running a wishbone, "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense out of the spread formation. I don't know if I'm reading too much into this, but Urban Meyer, Steve Addazio, QB coach Scot Loeffler and TE coach Brian White all have ties to the Big Ten. That's a lot of offensive coaches coming from a run-oriented conference. Granted the personnel certainly has something to do with this, but it's just a theory.

C&C: Honestly, am I crazy to think Percy Harvin (not Tebow) is the best offensive player to come through the program since Meyer took the job?

CFB 365: This is something I've been saying since Percy and Tim's Freshman season. Before the year even started when everyone was already praising Tebow, I told anybody that would listen that Percy was a better recruit. I think it's showing that his dynamic ability to run and catch the ball really propelled this team last season. I wouldn't just limit the statement to the Meyer Era either. Percy is the best offensive player to wear the Orange and Blue in a very long time.

By the way, do you recall a player as great as Percy Harvin going so unnoticed during his college career? I was always about Tebow. I think a lot of people overlooked and still do overlook what Percy accomplished at UF.

C&C: Why do I keep hearing rumblings of some Gator fans looking forward to the post-Tebow era? He's going to go down as one of the best leaders and pure football players in college history. Tell me all the hype and media love isn't getting old even down in Florida.

CFB 365: As someone who was an avid Chris Leak backer during Tebow's Freshman season, even I can't fathom why some Gator "fans" are anxious to see him go. I don't know if people want to see the offense open up the passing game more under Brantley (Which it will) or if they truly are getting tired of the hype. I think Gator fans should just enjoy Tebow while he's here. He's definitely a unique player that will go down as one of the greatest.

As a side note, since I mentioned Chris Leak, this is something that we went through in 2006. People were anxious to get the long time starter out of here and bring in the up and coming back-up. I wonder if it's just a QB flopping mentality that the O'l Ball Coach ingrained into the Florida fan base?

C&C: I know Meyer promised Tebow would get a lot of looks this season under center instead of in the shotgun and that he was going to showcase him as a pure quarterback for the NFL scouts during his final year. Personally, I see him best served at the next level as a Dallas Clark type do everything football player. What position in the NFL do you see him 5 years from now?

CFB 365: I guess you could call me a Tebow Believer because I see him playing quarterback in the NFL 5 years from now. He won't be a starter though, He'll be more like a Pat White, Wildcat change of pace QB. I only say this because Tebow has said that he will be a QB at the next level. For someone as determined as he is, I'll take him for his word.

C&C: Last year we asked you about one of the Gators that we hold in very high regard...Brandon Spikes. Well, he made his presence known from the start in last years Cocktail Party, sending a message to Knowshon that he wasn't going to run wild like the '07 match up. I know he's been fighting a hamstring lately, what's his status for Saturday?

CFB 365: Spikes will play. The coaching staff hasn't released too many details on his status this week, but the fact that he was ready to play against Mississippi St. if needed tells me he's starting this week. We'll need the other linebackers to step up in case Spikes is still a little off. Perhaps Dustin Doe could stop celebrating or getting arrested long enough to repeat his performance from last year's Cocktail Party.

C&C: Staying on my favorite subject - Defense. Since we no longer come close to playing even middle of the road defense in Athens and with a program like Florida, Alabama, LSU and Georgia, the talent will most always be there...what separates the talent is elite defensive coaching. What does Coach Charlie Strong mean to the Gator program and as a fan base how appreciated is he?

CFB 365: I don't think I could express just how much Coach Strong means to this program. The fact that he's not a head coach somewhere actually makes me sick to my stomach. Strong is easily the most important coach on the staff outside of Urb.

One trip to Florida's campus or a conversation with a Florida fan will tell you all you need to know about how much Charlie Strong is appreciated. This has a lot to do with Strong's success as well as his stability. He is the longest tenured coach on Florida's staff. I remember during the 2006 National Championship celebration, Coach Meyer was introduced to a wild standing ovation that lasted for nearly two minutes. Then Urb went through and introduced all the assistant coaches. He saved Charlie for last, even though Greg Mattison got a lot of credit for that year's defense. Fans starting cheering before Urb could even say Charlie's name. When he finally was introduced it sounded like gameday in the Swamp. It was very loud, to say the least. I think Coach Strong's ovation lasted a good 7-8 minutes. I hope he knows he's appreciated.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Having watched every minute of 4 different Florida games so far this year, I can clearly and assuredly state that in no way is this one of the better UF teams that UGA will ever play. In fact, I don't know that this Florida team is better than the one UGA beat in 2007. Offensively they are middle of the road and more predictable than a Pop Warner team. They rack up big yardage but lose their minds in the red zone. This Florida team wins with defense, but somehow lately most teams they've played have scored enough points to be in the ball game. Many of those points can be placed squarely on the feet of Florida offense, who now carries the identity in part of being a turnover prone team. I don't want to hear about Arkansas and Mississippi State being "in" those games because Florida shot themselves in the foot. Shooting itself in the foot is just what Florida does. A solid defense does as much to force those turnovers as Florida does by being careless with the football. You are what you are in this game.

UGA has the ability to stay in this game. If Cox can somehow channel whatever he had going against South Carolina, much less Arkansas, the Dawgs can score in the high 20's and make this a ballgame regardless of what the defense does. If Martinez somehow has an epiphany on how to coach and tries to duplicate what Arkansas and MSU did up front against Tebow, and a rested defense puts on its best tackling performance in 2 years, this game can be close. If somehow every star in the universe aligns and both happen on the same day, watch out.

The problem is that what I think should happen and what does happen, rarely mesh when it comes to UGA lately. I used to be able to make good predictions on gameplan and effort/motivation. I haven't been right on either for the past 19 Georgia football games. Regardless, if the Dawgs don't at least keep the ballgame close this weekend, or if Richt/Bobo decide to employ a Kiffin-esque conservative offensive strategy to simply stay in the ballgame - then we will absolutely, positively know that this program has regressed to the point where Coach Mark Richt will struggle to get it back any time soon. Thus, the "measuring stick." Coming off a relatively easy win and a bye, with Florida playing 2 tough, hard-fought games in a row, there is really no excuse for UGA not to at least play this game close well into the 4th quarter.

(As an aside, CMR - you have the 2nd greatest player in the history of this grand program, and the best player in America in my opinion. Good heavens....USE HIM. Line him up at tailback, slot receiver, lone wideout, quarterback, punt returner, where ever. Just get the forsaken football in his hands at least 15 times and let's see what happens.)

This weekend could be a "Revival" of the not-so-long-ago proud UGA football program. I know CMR can do it, I just don't really know if he has it in him anymore. I've lost some of my faith and so have many others. Regardless of what alot of fans in denial believe (I'm sorry....great programs simply in "transition" still don't lose by 3+ touchdowns to this year's Tennessee team), the outcome in Jacksonville this weekend will speak volumes about where our beloved program sits, and where it is going next year and beyond.

Friday, October 16, 2009

I have read some articles and blogs through out the week saying that some people think that the demise of UGA defense is a little more about personal than it is coaching.. I am gonna steal some numbers from a couple other blogs. Check the full articles HERE and HERE

-Georgia has allowed 37 points or more in 7 of the past 12 games.-Dead last in the SEC in scoring defense and next-to-last in total, passing and pass efficiency D. In three of four SEC games -- against South Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee -- UGA has allowed at least 37 points, 400 total yards and 300-plus yards passing, already highs for the Richt era in all three categories.-Under defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder (2001-04), the Dawgs surrendered 30+ points 1 time.-Under defensive coordinator Willie Martinez (2005-P), the Dawgs have surrendered 30+ points 14 times.-Scoring Defense – 100th in country

I know that BVG defense back in 2002 had studs all around, I get it... And I know Buck Belue has come out and said a lot of it is personel, that Willie just didn't forget how to coach. All good points, BUT.... We are not talking about going from the best defensive numbers in the SEC to the middle of the pack. We are talking about going to DEAD LAST !!!!!! Those numbers would suggest that we had the personel of the 86 Bears and then all the sudden had the personel of the 08 Lions.. Just not the case , and that is truly a slap in the face to the players. Seriously people, we are talking about LAST !!!!!! Behind Miss St ! Behind Vandy! Behind Kentucky! Do not tell me that we just missed on the players we recruited a couple years ago. If we were just average or just middle of the pack then i could take some of the argument but we have not been average lately. We have been the WORST in the conference, the numbers tell the truth. And i know people will argue that sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole truth.. BUT when you get into the number of games that we are talking about, they do tell the WHOLE truth. Lets argue another point that you hear-- "Well the offenses in the SEC are better now." I agree, BUT!!! Not to the extent that from the years 01-04, UGA allowed 30 points 1 time, then from the years 05 to now, UGA has allowed 30 points 14 TIMES!!!!!! Come on people, that's 14 TIMES more.. Not 5 times, not 8 times, 14 TIMES more!!! We are not talking about small differences here people , we are talking about MAJOR differences. We are talking about being at the front of the bus to going to the last seat on the bus.. And don't tell me that is just because we recruited a bunch of lemons!!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Question. Is there a way to look up the strength numbers of our team , say the offensive line and what there numbers are in regards to weight lifting. Then get those numbers and compare them to say alabama's. I have no idea what we might find I am just curious if our strength numbers are on par with others. Cause we are definitely struggling in the strength department in regards to O-line, D-line, and Fullbacks. And from all the injuries that we have had in last year and a half, I wonder if our strength program has dropped some along with all the other aspects of our coaching.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

“If you’re a leader or a player and you are brave enough to be in the arena, there’s going to be people outside the arena that want to throw things at you and say things about you,” Richt said. “But there’s honor in being in the arena, and a lot of people don’t understand it because they’ve never been in there.”I'd like for any readers that stumble upon this blog to stew upon the above comment for the next couple of days. I plan to expand on Richt's thoughts later in the coming week, because I believe they speak volumes about the state of the University of Georgia football program at the present time, and perhaps about where things are headed in the near future.

Let me just end by paraphrasing what I believe he's saying:YOU, THE AVERAGE UGA FOOTBALL SUPPORTER, DON'T HAVE A CLUE OF WHAT IT MIGHT TAKE TO IMPROVE THE STATE OF THE UGA FOOTBALL PROGRAM. NO AMOUNT OF MONEY, TIME, AND YOUR LIVELIHOOD THAT YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROGRAM THAT PAYS MY SALARY CAN CHANGE THAT.More to follow. Need a night or two to sleep on this one.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I'm doing all I can not to do a long drawn out post on a coach that recruits and signs a player that was involved in the worst crime a person could commit: Rape. I hope this P.O.S. crashes and burns in Knoxville and is run out of the sport. We sure as hell don't need low grade humans like him in the SEC.H/T: Gatorsports

61% said they would rather Georgia win a game 14-10 than win 52-41. To be honest, I expected the number in favor of a defensive game to be around 75%. I know offense is fun to watch (that Arkansas game was as fun a game as I've watched in years), but it sure was nice to know that all we had to do is score 20 points and we would almost certainly win (the BVG years).

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lets just dive right into some questions that some of you may be able to help clear up some things for us. Maybe it will help me grasp certain things if i know exactly where some of the decisions are coming from.

OFFENSIVE1) Who chooses the personnel packages through out the game?? Who chooses when Samuel, King, and Ealey comes in and out of the game? Who makes the call to play Wooten and not play Marlon?Example.... Bobo made a comment about a week ago saying that he would love to get a running back in rhythm and get them 25 carries... But was he the guy earlier in the season when Samuel was running well took him out of the game for 15 straight minutes and basically the whole 2nd quarter???????? Or is that CMR???

2) Why when #1 comes in on offense, its always a hand off?? Can he not catch? And the same for Logan Gray, can he not throw? Its amazing in 5 games there has not been 1 play with either of those guys doing the opposite of what the whole world is thinking.. Logan Gray really hasn't thrown a pass all year???

3) Why does the staff say one thing to the media and then does something different?? Don't they know that when things don't work, it makes the fans more pissed. Didn't we hear about packages for Logan? Getting a RB in rhythm? Some things don't add up..

4) Is it really that difficult to figure out that #7 over the middle of the field is a positive play about every time we run it... And we did it once against LSU.. Who's at fault for not seeing that.. Cuz that seems obvious to me. And if we did call the play more and Joe Cox doesn't see him, which coach is at fault for not coaching that up??

Specifically for LSU game5) If the coaches knew that Ealey was going to play , why 2nd half? Was it all the rushing yards and rhythm are backs were getting in the 1st half.. Oh, we had one first down!!! Who's decision is that??

DEFENSIVE QUESTIONS

1. Who chooses the personnel packages throughout the game? CMR or Willie? Specifically - what else does Rambo have to do take over the starting role from Evans?

2. Why did we move Marcus Washington to DE?? He isn't even playing. And, if memory serves correctly, he would probably be our 2nd of 3rd best LB this year.

3. Why are WR able to get so wide open so often? All too often, there is a WR catching a ball without a defender within 10-15 yards of him? Is it a terrible play call from the sideline or is it a missed assignment from the players? If it is the latter, when are players going to be benched for not knowing who to cover? If it is the former, I really hope CMR can get over this loyalty thing and do what's right for the program. I know everyone said our defense played an overall good game against LSU, but we gave up 7 more 1st downs and over a hundred yards more to LSU than what MISS ST gave up the week before. And we gave up more yards this past week to LSU than anyone had all season.. Washington, Vandy, Louisiana Lafayette, and Miss St all gave up less yards than us.

NOT SO SPECIAL TEAMSCould probably get to 50 questions but lets just focus on a couple

1) What is up with the kickoff coverage team? Who decides who plays on this unit? Richt or Fabris?? I just looked on DVR and here are the players we had in on our last kickoff vs. LSU - Marcus Dowtin, Rennie Curran, Bacarri Rambo, Prince Miller - OK - so far, so good. All 1st team defensive players (or pretty dang close in the case of Rambo). Then we have our backup QB in Logan Gray?? The rest of the players were all #'s i had to look up. And i had never heard of any of them and was told they were all walk-ons.

2) What happened to the threat of a punt return? I don't think I can watch Logan Gray trot out there and wave his hand 1 more time. We have some serious athletes on this team - is it possible that #6 is the only one that we trust not to drop the ball on the punt return? He is our #2 QB!!!!!! And i know... he's gonna fair catch it so he has no possibility of getting hurt.. So that leads to #3..

3) If everyone in the world knows Logan is gonna fair catch it, then why don't we rush the punter?? Are we SCARED that we might get a flag and go from 115th to 118th in penalties.. I might be missing something here, but sure would be nice to have the option of running the punt or at least bring the house to try and block it.

4) Directional Kick-offs ???? I think this has been covered about 245 times.. But seriously , STOP !!!!!

5) Last but not least ,, who makes the decision to break from the huddle on the final kickoff ?? We all know what happened, but who makes that decision?? CMR or Fabris??It was not a good one.. We already have issues with kick-offs, so lets try to trick em with breaking from the huddle. And let our already slow walk-ons start about the 10 when Walsh kicks the ball. Watch the tape , half the guys are on the 10 when Walsh kicks the ball from 15.. And he kicked the ball a little to the right of middle and that was the side we had 3 guys running down(illegal !!) Sure it was real tough for Holliday to get his 45 yards !!!

Let me start by saying that I am optimistic by nature and I still don't truly believe we can run the table for the rest of the year and win the SEC East. That being said, the last time I felt this bad about the Dawgs was 2 years ago immediately following our loss to UT in Knoxville. Do you remember how dejected you felt after that game? We played with no energy or enthusiasm and didn't look like we wanted to be on the field (say what you want about this year's team, but at least we are fighting and competing out there every game). The next week, we squeaked by Vandy in Nashville by forcing a fumble late in the game and eventually kicking a FG as time expired. Then, we had an off week before Jacksonville. And, down in Jacksonville, Knowshon had his coming out party and the Dawgs caught fire for the rest of the season. Yes - Knowshon had played before that game, and showed his talents, but he became a star that day ---- leading up to Jacksonville, there was talk of burning Caleb King's redshirt so he could help #24 vs. Florida).

What if.... We somehow go 2-0 over the next 2 weeks in our trips into the state of Tennessee? And what if we take full advantage of the 2 full weeks we will have to prepare for the Gators? And what if Bobo calls an entire game the way he called the opening drive against Oklahoma State? And what if Willie pulls out a great scheme for 1 whole game (I know -it's a huge stretch to ask this of both coordinators in the same game for this schizophrenic team, but they have both done it occasionally over the years). And what if Washaun Ealey has his breakout performance in the WLOCP? And what if all of our other young players really start to mature and grow into their roles and realize all their potential over the next month? And what if Evil Richt shows his face again and comes up with a less controversial motivational ploy to get the team into a frenzy before kickoff? And what if we take that momentum and ride it out for the rest of the season like we did in 2007?

Obviously, this is not very likely, but I would've laughed at you 2 years ago if you had told me we were going to end up #2 in the country after UT handed it to us 35-14 (and it wasn't even that close). Is there at least a glimmer of a hope of a parallel between 2007 and 2009?

Monday, October 5, 2009

I'm guessing we won't get to see the last 1:09 played over again (and it might not have changed the outcome anyway), but Tech graduate and Head of SEC Officials Rogers Redding felt the need to make a public statement about it anyway.

Let's make one thing perfectly clear....this is nothing more than a reaction to what could ultimately have (or will) become a very public and ugly backlash against the SEC based on the uproar that has come from just about every school in the conference not located in Louisiana, and more specifically as a result Tim Brando's potentially damning comments. Again, let's be clear....Redding is doing nothing more than "hedging" with this weak retraction, in other words hoping that by admitting the incompetence of the men he employs, perhaps this will get swept under the rug. I pray that won't happen until the entire roster of SEC officials (and Redding himself) are completely turned over, which is the only way we're ever going to hope to see improvement. Believe me, there are plenty more examples to draw from than just the call on Saturday evening.

You had better believe that as a result of this fiasco, the number of these kinds of penalty flags thrown after touchdowns will go down considerably starting this weekend. This has now become issue #1 with officiating in the SEC and possibly every other conference in America, and Redding has put his crews on notice. Use better discretion. Too little, too late.

Of course, no discussion of this issue can go without a mention of Coach Vince Dooley (who weighed in himself), who ironically might be the person most responsible for creation of this rule, which also adds to the long list of useless accomplishments of his since the day he stepped down as the UGA coach. Thanks Coach.....you're no doubt the greatest head football coach in the history of the University, but in the 15 or so years that followed your great run with the program, you didn't do your legacy any favors. Your comments on this subject at this point are meaningless at best.

Adding insult to this entire punch in the gut, the Lombardi reincarnate shared his comments with an interested North Florida journalist....his calculated comments serving nothing more than to position himself in the likely chance that one of his players put themselves in the same position Saturday night in Baton Rouge. If Timmy's brain unscrambles itself enough before Saturday to allow him to see the field, it will be interesting to see if he's up to his usual celebratory antics after every 2 yard gain. Also interesting is the fact that the head coach of a team that wasn't even involved in the game has had more to say about it than the head coach of the team that suffered because of the call. But, that's another topic for another time.

Its a shame that UGA has to lose a game (and again, I admit the outcome of the game might have been the same regardless) for one of the worst rules in organized sports to come under this type of scrutiny. But...I guess somebody had to fall on the sword. In the words of Bop as we were walking from the Tate Center toward Lumpkin Street at about 7 PM last Saturday night....TYPICAL.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

You can tell me that the Dawgs really lost to LSU because they aren't the better team. I might ultimately agree with you....there are plenty of places to lay the blame in all 3 phases of the game, and includes coaches and players. But any analysis of what happened in Athens yesterday cannot be made without some mention of officiating. The ridiculous unsportsmanlike penalty on AJ Green aside, go back to the Orson Charles flag after his 3rd down catch late in the 3rd quarter. What did Orson do differently from anything that (for example) Tim Tebow has ever done after every play that gains positive yardage in his entire Florida career? (Hell, for that matter David Pollack used to do alot of the same thing.) Yes, I noticed that the official gave Charles a warning as he was walking past him (of course he threw the flag about 0.2 seconds after said "warning.") That doesn't change the fact that you can find a handful of examples in EVERY college game where a player does something much worse than what Orson did last night, and those players don't get flagged, much less even get a warning from a referee. I guess Orson needs to spend the offseason circumsizing babies in a 3rd world country, or perhaps he should blatantly plagiarize a halftime speech from a sappy high school football movie. I guess you have to earn that kind of treatment from the honorable officials of the SEC.

It saddens me that referees are not held publicly accountable for the calls that they make. Everybody else on the field yesterday will be. Instead, we'll see that crew on a field somewhere in an SEC game next week, maintaining the SEC's reputation of having the poorest officials in all of organized sports.

We're getting close to the 2 year anniversary of the celebration in Jacksonville. Its time to start having legitimate conversations as to whether or not Mark Richt's "master" motivational ploy was worth the price that UGA is still paying today. I'm not saying there is a blatant mandate from Birmingham...but I do believe that it is still in the back of every SEC official's mind that has called a UGA game since that fateful day.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: There has been a good bit of talk on various blogs and message boards today regarding the comments made by Tim Brando on the CBS Sportsline's SEC post-game show. Brando is taking this in a completely different direction (you can infer what that is) than where I was going with my comments above....but after hearing them, they make total sense. As I think back to all the times that I've been floored by the total inconsistency of when and to which players these flags are thrown against, I now believe I have more of an understanding. The funny thing is, someone called in to the 106.1 post game show last night after the game and made this same assertion, and I thought he was way off-base. After more time to consider it and hearing Brando's opinion, I'm now convinced of it and extremely sickened by the idea. I'm sure there will be a good bit of discussion here and elsewhere about this throughout the week.

Brando's comments can be viewed and heard here. Scroll to the 4:45 mark if you want to skip alot of talk about LSU heading into the Florida game next week.

Was anybody else as fired up as I was and bouncing out of control when Damon Evans came on the big-screen at Sanford Stadium immediately following our 1st points of the game at the beginning of the 4th quarter? That was awesome - There is nothing like a "Thanks for coming to the game and please don't drink and drive" message from the AD to get the crowd fired up against the #4 ranked team in the country. I was so fired up that I thought I was going to run through a brick wall.

OK - time to turn the sarcasm off. I am just curious to hear if it is just me or if everyone feels the same way. Here is how I see it......

We battled against our own coaches and play-calling all day long (that'll be another post for another time) as we converted on a huge 4th and goal from the 1 to take a 7-6 lead. Sanford is going crazy - we are up on the 4th ranked team in the country in the 4th quarter and we get a message from Damon Evans??? Don't get me wrong - obviously, I agree with Damon's message 110%, but that is not the time to do it. Play that message after an LSU 1st down on their own 26 as CBS takes one of their 93 TV timeouts.

The in-game music was an issue after last week's game and whoever (Richt or Evans or the big bag of of fun that is Michael Adams) makes these decisions decided to listen to the complaints and keep the stadium in a lull during every timeout. I don't get it - what is the problem with some hip-hop music to get the crowd loud and the 18-22 year olds on our team fired up?? I don't even like hip-hop - but this is stupid. I don't think the team is full of thugs and gangsters because they like to dance to current music as opposed to standing still while we play The Who from the 70's or Kid Rock's Bawitdaba (yes - we actually played that over the PA system during one of the timeouts). The second half of 2007 was the most fun a lot of us might ever have as UGA fans - and SouljaBoy was a big part of that - I told my wife last week that I will hear that song in 40 years when I am 74 and have a big smile on my face as I think back to the '07 season.

Looking back at the game, I don't think we played any of the "controversial" hip-hop music all day long. Except at the very beginning of the 2nd half. And a strange thing happened after that - The D played (by far) their most impressive series of the entire season and we pushed LSU all the way back to their own 2 after consecutive sacks. That was as loud as the place was all day long (correction - a close 2nd place to the noise level after AJ's circus TD catch with just over a minute left). Maybe it's a coincidence that the place got really loud AND the defense got after the QB and applied serious pressure immediately following the hip-hop and the players dancing and bouncing on the sideline. I don't think so.... I was bouncing at my seat in the stands and I have no clue what the song was or who sings it. But, it makes for a pretty damn good atmosphere when the whole stadium is feeling that.

I am curious to hear what everyone thinks - do we want the crazy atmosphere with the hip-hop that the players seem to enjoy OR do we want a message from Damon along with the ads for Andy Landers and the Lady Dawgs?

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Having been just about spot on in all 4 games so far (although not at all expecting the offensive outbursts against SC and Arkansas), I am going into this one at my most optimistic. UGA wins this one by a fairly comfortable margin, minimum 14 points. I say this for no other reason than the Dawgs are due for a "clean" game. 3 to 1 on the wrong side of the turnover margin can't continue for every game this season, so why not flip that the other way today.....LSU has been the opposite way on turnovers, so perhaps today is the day it swings the other way for them as well. Or then again, maybe that is just who these teams are. If those trends continue, my prediction is null and void (how's that for a hedge?)

Friday, October 2, 2009

Is this the game where the Dawgs finally put it all together??? We have seen the offense, the defense and the special teams all show the potential to dominate a game. But, we are still waiting for them to all show up at once in the same game. If we can ever find a way to hold on to the dang ball, we could be stupid good. If we continue to be -2 in the turnover ratio every single game, its going to get ugly fast with the games we have left on the schedule. The good news is that LSU has not been very impressive in their first 4 games either. If we can limit our turnovers to 1 and if we can force a turnover or 2, I really think we can win this one handily.

When asked about ball security earlier this week, Richt said that he doesn't care about our turnover ratio up to this point - all he cares about is winning the turnover battle on Saturday. I agree with him 100%, but the question is.... Will we see a change this week or will the trend continue??? I am always optimistic, but I think this is the week that we finally put it all together and we win by 10 points or so in a good, competitive SEC battle.

Y'all's thoughts? Have we been unlucky with the turnovers up to this point or are we just a turnover-prone team that will have to battle vs. the turnover ration all year long?

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Its been a slow week here at C&C, so I thought I would post a loaded question headed into the weekend. This is just a question to hear everyone's thoughts because I definitely am very unsure of what my response would be....

Lets just say UGA could hire Kirby Smart, and not to be an extra guy for Caleb and R. Samuel to run over once they get to the secondary. Kirby has already had that job when opposing players would run through him like a "Peking" buffet on a Sunday afternoon. He was a defensive back for the Dawgs back in the mid 90's ... could UGA hire him away from Alabama and Nick Saban to be the Dawgs defensive coordinator? He currently holds that position for Alabama, even though everyone knows that it is Saban's defense. Kirby has learned from one of the best defensive coaches in the country and he is a Dawg alum. So, what do you think....would you want Coach Kirby Smart to be Georgia's Defensive Coordinator???